Things to ask the UK Government about their work to make life better for disabled people

This is about the UK’s work on the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

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What is in this booklet page

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Who are we?

What is this report about?

Things we want the UK Governments to be asked about

How to find out more

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

Who are we?

We are a group called UKIM.

We are from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

We are made up of 4 organisations called:

The Equality and Human Rights Commission

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission

The Scottish Human Rights Commission.

Between us we check that all the governments in the UK are doing what they should for disabled people.

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4

What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

This report is about the work of the UK governments to make life better for disabled people.

By UK governments we mean the government for the whole of the UK and the governments for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They signed a document about this called The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

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What is this report about?

Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

England

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

The document says that all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

All the UK governments have agreed to do what this document says.

Our job is to check that the UK governments are doing what they agreed to.

There is another group that checks how governments everywhere are doing with this work.

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Scotland

Wales

Northern Ireland

England

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

They are called the CRPD Committee.

They check what governments are doing and ask them questions about it.

This report looks at:

some problems for disabled people in the UK

some questions that we want the CRPD Committee to ask the UK governments about this.

We want the CRPD Committee to check what the UK governments are doing about the problems.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

There is a document about the rights of disabled people everywhere.

It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

All the UK governments have agreed to do what this document says.

But we think they are not doing enough to:

follow what the document says

make it part of their laws and plans.

We want to know what the UK governments are doing about this.

Things we want the UK governments to be asked about

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

We want to know:

what plans the UK governments have about this

how the UK Government will make sure that the new law it wants to make about human rights will give disabled people the same rights as now

what disabled people can do if they don’t get their rights

how the law in Wales about care and support will help give disabled people all their rights

how disabled adults and children can help make laws and plans and know about their rights.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

The UK leaving Europe

The UK plans to leave the European Union.

The European Union is a group of countries that work together on things to do with Europe.

We want to know how the UK Government will make sure that disabled people still get the same rights when we leave.

Treating everyone fairly

A law called the Equality Act 2010 is about making sure everyone is treated fairly.

We want to know:

how the UK and Scottish governments will make sure that all of this law happens

how the law in Northern Ireland will give disabled people the same rights as the rest of the UK.

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

What people think of disabled people

Many people think bad or wrong things about disabled people.

This needs to stop.

We want to know what the UK governments are doing about this.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

Making everything easy for disabled people

For example, the internet, phones, information, transport and buildings.

We want to know how the UK governments will make this happen.

We also want to know:

how transport staff will have the right skills to support disabled people

how new buses and trains will have information that disabled people can listen to and see

how deaf and deaf blind people will get the support they need to communicate

how new rules in England about making health and care information easier for disabled people are working.

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

Housing

Many disabled people live in homes that are hard to live in or not right for them.

There is not enough good housing for disabled people in the UK.

We want to know:

what the UK governments are doing to make housing better for disabled people

how many houses in Wales are good for disabled people to live in

how disabled people in Scotland will get the right changes made to their homes

For example, a disabled person may need a ramp or a bathroom that is easier to use

Making the right changes can help to stop problems later on.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

Support and money to live on We want to know how the UK governments are making sure that:

disabled adults and children are not poor and have enough money to buy the things they need

new rules about benefits and support are fair and right for disabled people

the new way to give people benefits and support in Scotland will be right for disabled people

disabled people in all parts of the UK get support to live in the community and make their own choices

Parents and carers get support too.

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

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Jobs

Many disabled people are tested to see if they can work or not.

We want to know how the UK Government is making sure that these tests are fair and right.

We want to know how the UK governments are making sure that:

many more disabled people can find and keep a job, with support if they need it

This means disabled people who need more support or who have mental health problems as well

disabled people are paid fair money for their jobs and are not always working in low paid jobs.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

Help from the law

It is hard for many disabled people to get help from the law and the courts.

We want to know how the UK Government will make sure that disabled adults and children in England and Wales:

can get advice about the law or go to court if they need to

can afford to get help if they have been treated unfairly at work.

We want to know how the Scottish government will make sure that disabled people can:

afford to go to court

trust the courts and the law

get the right support to go to court.

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

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Education

We want to know how the UK governments are making sure that:

disabled children get a good education and learn together with other children at school, college and university

schools help disabled children to stay at school if there are problems instead of forcing them to leave

disabled children get the right support to do well at school and in the future

schools and school buildings in Scotland are better for disabled children

And disabled children in Scotland can have a say in the support they need.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

Health

We want to know how the UK governments are making sure that:

disabled people have the same chances as everyone else to be healthy and live a long life

This means people with learning disabilities and mental health problems too

there is good mental health care for all children, young people and adults who need it

people in Scotland can get mental health care from someone called a therapist more quickly.

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

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We want to know how the UK governments are making sure that:

people with learning disabilities or autism can get the right support near where they live

At the moment they may be sent to mental health hospitals or homes.

Some people with mental health problems die while they are in mental health hospitals, police cells or prisons.

We want to know what the UK and Scottish governments are doing to:

find out why these people die

stop deaths like this from happening.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

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Hate crime, abuse and bullying of disabled people

This is when people are violent or do very bad things to disabled people

We want to know what the UK governments are doing to help:

make it easy for disabled people to report crime like this

make sure people who do bad things to disabled people go to court

stop bullying of disabled people

stop violence against disabled women and people forcing them to get married.

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

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We want to know what the UK governments are doing to:

stop abuse of disabled people who live in hospitals or care homes

make sure disabled people in places like prisons, mental health hospitals and care homes are treated in the right way

For example, if they are upset and may hurt themselves or someone else

Staff should not do things like hold their bodies down to stop them moving unless they really need to.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

Making your own choices

Some people find it hard to make their own choices.

They should get support to make their own choices.

Other people should not make choices for them or do things that are bad for them.

We want to know how the UK governments will make this happen.

Some people may need support to have their say from someone called an advocate.

We want to know how the Scottish government is helping disabled people to get this support.

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What is this report about?

Lots of countries have agreed to make life better for disabled people.

They made a document about this. It is called the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The document says all disabled people should be treated fairly and get their rights.

The UK Government agreed to do what this document says.

The UK is England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There are checks to make sure the UK Government is doing what it needs to.

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Voting

We want to know how the UK governments will make it easy for disabled people to:

vote in elections

make big decisions about their local area and the country.

Information about disabled people

The UK governments should have good information about:

disabled people in the UK

how they are treated.

We want to know what is being done about this.

Our work

We want to know how the UK Government will make sure that UKIM has enough money for our work on disabled people’s rights.

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We are called The Equality and Human Rights Commission.

We are part of a group from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

The group is called UKIM.

We check the UK Government is doing what it should do to make life better for disabled people.

There is another group that checks how all governments are doing with this work.

This group is called the UNCRPD Committee.

They will look at how the UK Government is doing and ask them questions about it.

We have given this group some: information about the main problems for disabled people

questions to ask the UK Government.

For questions about this booklet email: correspondence@equalityhumanrights.com

You can also look on our websites at:

Equality and Human Rights Commission:

www.equalityhumanrights.com

Equality Commission for Northern Ireland:

http://www.equalityni.org

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission:

http://www.nihrc.org

Scottish Human Rights Commission:

http://www.scottishhumanrights.com

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How to find out more

For advice or information about being treated fairly you can get in touch with the Equality Advisory and Support Service.

This is free.

Phone 0808 800 0082

Textphone 0808 800 0084

They are open 9am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 10am to 2pm Saturday.

Their website is:

www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

Or write to them at:

FREEPOST Equality Advisory Support Service FPN4431

© 2017 Equality and Human Rights Commission, The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, The Northern Irish Human Rights Commission, The Scottish Human Rights Commission.Pictures by PhotosymbolsISBN 978-1-84206-704-8